Ex-mayor seeks new trial over definition of bribery

September 14, 2001

CALUMET CITY — Lawyers for former Calumet City Mayor Jerry Genova and a co-defendant are seeking a new trial after a juror reported the foreman provided a definition for bribery from a dictionary--after the judge refused a request for a dictionary.

Genova and Jerome Stack, the city's former public works commissioner, were convicted of racketeering and bribery charges by a federal jury last month. Lawrence P. Gulotta, the city's longtime prosecutor, was also convicted of racketeering and official misconduct.

In a court filing, lawyers for Stack argued that bribery is defined one way under Illinois statutes and that jurors may have found the two guilty of bribery based on a definition from a dictionary.

Prosecutors contend that even if the bribery charges were thrown out, jurors found the two guilty on enough other acts that their racketeering conviction would stand.